The History of Abortion

In Roman times, magic potions to dispel pregnancies were openly sold. In the early 19th and 20th centuries, getting pregnant was seen as possible death sentence for either the mother or the unborn child. The average female would give birth eight times in her life. Each birth she had a one in eight chance of dying. An advice column from an 1880 newspaper said to prevent contraception, eat the dry lining of a chicken's gizzard.